Draymond Green made headlines earlier this week when he unloaded on NBA teams for sitting players as they openly work to trade them. Not surprisingly, Charles Barkley does not agree with the Golden State Warriors star’s stance.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have decided they will not play Andre Drummond while they try to trade the veteran center. The Detroit Pistons are doing the same with Blake Griffin. Green sounded off about that on Monday night, insisting there is a double standard with players wanting to be traded versus teams openly shopping players in trade talks.
“Teams can come out and continue to say, ‘Oh, we’re trading guys. We’re not playing you.’ And, yet, we’re (supposed) to stay professional,” Green said. “At some point, as players, we need to be treated with the same respect and have the same right that the teams have.”
During an appearance on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” this week, Barkley said Green came across as “annoying” with the rant. The Hall of Famer said it’s a lot easier to be outspoken when you play for the best team in the NBA.
“I think Draymond’s got to start learning you can say what you want to when you’re the champs and you’re in first place,” Barkley said, as transcribed by Jon Becker of The Mercury News. “But when you’re in last place, you become the guy who becomes annoying.”
Simmons pointed out that Barkley was also very outspoken during his career despite playing for some bad teams. Barkley defended that by saying “I was a great player.”
“There’s a double standard on that. When you’re a great player, you can do and say what you want to do,” he said. “When you’re on a good team, you can do and say what you want to. When you’re in last place, you have to stand down. He hasn’t learned that yet.”
The Warriors were 16-13 and in 7th in the Western Conference heading into Thursday, so they are far from being in last place.
Barkley also defended what the Cavaliers and other teams are doing. He said he understands wanting to prevent Drummond from getting injured given the circumstances.
Green and Barkley have a history of trading shots, so it’s hardly a shock that they disagree on this topic. It’s important to note that Drummond and Griffin agreed to the arrangement, and the latter even thanked the Pistons.
There’s a difference between a player demanding a trade when a team wants to keep him and two sides agreeing that a divorce is best. Green doesn’t seem to care about that distinction.
More must-reads: